The synopsis of the evil sorcerer Jafar from Disney's Aladdin franchise.
Aladdin Franchise
Aladdin
Jafar is introduced as the sinister Royal Vizier to Agrabah's Sultan who desires power over Agrabah. He is the second most powerful authority in Agrabah, answering only to Sultan Hamed. He is always accompanied by his sarcastic, devious pet parrot, Iago. Whilst presenting a charming and respectable exterior to Hamed and the people of Agrabah, he secretly holds everyone around him in contempt and manipulates people by means of hypnotizing him with a magical snake-headed staff, which he always carries on his person.
Even regarding his desire to marry Jasmine afterwards, it was solely so he could gain control of the throne and intended to kill her soon thereafter—though he later reneges on this in an attempt to make her his queen consort. He's traveled widely and amassed a wide knowledge of magical artifacts and legends. Until he uses Genie's powers to become a sorcerer, however, his magical abilities are limited to the use of such artifacts as he's collected, and his powers as an accomplished alchemist.
He also had some contacts within the Agrabah criminal underworld, including the thief Gazeem, whom he hired to find the Scarab half. He eventually managed gain it after some delays, although he was unable to retrieve the lamp after further delays that resulted in Gazeem's death, relating to a Diamond in the Rough. Undeterred, he returns to Agrabah, and upon learning from Hamed that Jasmine doesn't wish to marry a prince, offered to help in exchange for the Sultan's familial sapphire ring, with hypnosis being involved. After departing, however, he makes it clear to Iago that he intends to usurp the Sultan's authority. He later used Hamed's ring to uncover the diamond in the rough at his laboratory, eventually identifying the individual necessary to access the Cave of Wonders: Aladdin.
He then had the royal guards arrest Aladdin as a subtle means of recruiting him, although he did not expect Jasmine to have accompanied him (she had escaped from the palace earlier to avoid having to find another Prince at her doorstep). Nonetheless, when being confronted by Jasmine, he lied to her about having executed Aladdin. With Jasmine out of the way of his plans, he then made his way to the dungeons and disguised himself as an old prisoner, offering to help Aladdin escape from the dungeons in exchange for aiding him in retrieving the lamp from the Cave of Wonders. After accepting the deal, they then made their way to the cave. After Aladdin was accepted in to retrieve the lamp, Jafar then promised the former's reward to be given upon his return. Once Aladdin returns with the lamp, he begs Jafar for help him out of there, but Jafar orders him to hand over the lamp and he does so. Jafar finally retrieving it, attempted to give Aladdin his "reward" (the eternal reward of death), but Abu bit him in the wrist. Unbeknownst to him until after the cave collapsed, Abu also stole the lamp from him before he bit him. Jafar then screamed in rage and frustration at the loss of the lamp.
Afterwards, Jafar ended up reprimanded by Hamed for executing a prisoner without his consultation (Jasmine had informed him earlier of Jafar's supposed execution of Aladdin), with Jafar swearing that it won't happen again. Although Hamed forgave Jafar instantly, Jasmine was still furious with him, and vowed to "get rid of him" once she eventually rises up as queen. The furious Jafar takes her threats to heart, fuming over the fact that not only has he lost the lamp, but is also in danger of losing his head should he fail to somehow take control of Agrabah. As he contemplates on the matter, Iago suddenly concocts a new plot, advising Jafar to take advantage of Jasmine's enforced marriage by marrying her, himself. Once he is legally dubbed sultan as a result, he can dispose of his wife and her father, ridding himself of his enemies and maintaining complete power. Jafar is enticed by the idea, and carries it through by using a fake provision in the law that would allow a royal vizier to marry a princess, as a means to "solve" the Sultan's problems of finding a suitor for Jasmine. Hamed, for a number of reasons, is not keen on the idea, forcing Jafar to result to hypnosis.
Before the power of the snake staff can take full effect, Hamed is freed from his trance by the sounds of fanfare entering the city, which is revealed to belong to the flashy introductory parade of visiting suitor, Prince Ali (Aladdin in disguise). Jafar immediately sees Prince Ali as a rival for Jasmime's hand in marriage, and plots to secretly have him killed. That night, he was afraid that his plot to marry Jasmine and become Sultan would be ruined by the Prince, so the vizier orders the guards to kidnap Ali and ensure he's never found. When he returns to the palace, Jafar successfully hypnotizes Hamed, forcing him to abide the marriage between the former and Jasmine. Jasmine refuses, declaring that she chooses Prince Ali, but Jafar explains that "Prince Ali left", until the prince suddenly reveals himself to be alive, and accuses Jafar of attempted murder. Jafar tries to cover his crimes by hypnotizing Hamed into believing the former's claims, only to accidentally reveal the power held by his staff, which Ali destroys after Ali is saved by Genie from drowning. Hamed is freed, and Ali reveals Jafar's treachery.
| “ | This isn't over yet, boy! | „ |
| ~ Jafar to "Prince Ali", after the latter exposes his treachery. |
Furious, Hamed tried to have the guards arrest Jafar, though he managed to escape with a smoke bomb, although not before glancing the lamp inside Ali's turban, eventually able to deduce Ali's true identity. He then revealed this to Iago, and ordered him to steal the lamp from Aladdin, which he succeeded in the following day while Ali is still upset about his error that he made to Jasmine and told Genie that he is unable to make his final wish to free him, which resulted in Genie going back into his lamp. Jafar, observing the marriage announcement from his lab, then unleashed the Genie, making him the new master of the lamp, declaring his wish to become the sultan of Agrabah.
| “ | Grant me my first wish! I wish to rule on high.. AS SULTAN! | „ |
| ~ Jafar's first wish. |
A hostile take over commences, with a demonized Genie destructively placing Agrabah's palace on a mountain top, with Jafar simultaneously declaring himself as the new sultan to Jasmine and her father. After not receiving the respect he desired from the two royals, Jafar wishes to become the most powerful sorcerer in the world, in order to strike fear into them, instead. When Ali tries to intervene, Jafar exposes the prince by revealing his true identity to be Aladdin to Jasmine as a form of humiliation, before banishing him, Abu, and the carpet to the Arctic to freeze to death.
With Agrabah finally under his control, Jafar spends time torturing the former Sultan, until directing his attention to Jasmine, whom he wishes to become his queen, after a first attempt to have her betroth to him willingly had failed. Although Genie claimed that Genies can't make people fall in love, Jasmine seeming made the wish come true, seductively flirting with Jafar as if madly lustful towards him. Too caught up in his own pleasure to realize this is a ruse, Jafar eventually discovers Aladdin trying to retrieve the lamp, merely inches away from the object at that point. Before the street rat can defeat him, Jafar fought against Aladdin with all of his powers, eliminating his aids (Jasmine, Abu, and Carpet) and reclaiming the lamp.
When called a "cowardly snake" afraid to fight for himself by Aladdin, Jafar responds by transforming himself into a giant cobra, and instantly attacks. Though Aladdin proves to be a valiant warrior, Jafar eventually overwhelms him by trapping the street rat within his coils. Threatening to crush him to death, Jafar taunts Aladdin's helplessness, though the latter retorts by claiming Jafar isn't as powerful as he wishes to believe, claiming the Genie is still the most powerful being in the universe as he gave Jafar his powers in the first place and can easily take them away. Realizing what Aladdin says is true, Jafar's lust for power prompts him to use his final wish to become an all-powerful genie.
Genie reluctantly grants the wish, and Jafar is turned into a monstrous genie with blood-red skin—subsequently seizing control of the cosmos and declaring himself ruler of the universe. However, Aladdin notifies Jafar that the power of a genie has cost his freedom (as genies aren't free entities), revealing that the evil genie is now equipped with his own black lamp prison, which quickly begins to suck him inside. Realizing this too late, Jafar tries to escape by grabbing onto Iago's tail feathers, but to no avail, merely dragging the panicked Iago to imprisonment alongside him. Foiled and trapped by his own greed, Jafar's magic over Agrabah and its inhabitants are undone, and peace is restored within the kingdom. Jafar's lamp is left in Aladdin's possession, who hands it over to Genie, who sends the lamp flying to the Cave of Wonders, where the bickering Jafar and Iago would be forced to remain, as prisoners, for at least 10,000 years. Aladdin then apologizes to Jasmine for lying to her about being a prince and procceeds to give in his third wish to free Genie before settling into a relationship with Jasmine after the Sultan changes the law to Jasmine marrying anyone who is non-royalty and Jasmine happily chooses Aladdin.
The Return of Jafar
Jafar, as he appears in The Return of Jafar.
Jafar returns as the titular main antagonist of The Return of Jafar. After Iago escapes from the lamp, Jafar demands that he be released, but Iago refused as he has enough of Jafar's behavior and instead drops Jafar's lamp into a well before leaving. However, Jafar was released from his lamp by a small-time thief named Abis Mal, but finds himself unable to kill Aladdin as he can't use his powers as a genie to kill the latter. However, seeing that Jafar holds a grudge against Aladdin, Abis Mal (who too holds a grudge against Aladdin for foiling one of his heists earlier in the film) offers a team-up with Jafar: he will help Jafar dispose of Aladdin permanently in return for his three wishes. Agreeing to Abis Mal's deal, Jafar asserted his power by tricking Abis Mal into wasting two of his wishes before making him return to Agrabah. Once in the palace, the sorcerer revealed himself to Iago and forced him to play along with his evil plans, despite Iago being so uneasy about this.
The next day, Aladdin and Hamed departed to have a discussion at a place suggested by Iago. After they left, Jafar confronted the Genie and Abu in the Palace gardens and showed his power, imprisoning the pair. Meanwhile, Aladdin had a talk with Hamed that earned his acceptance as the future grand vizier. When Aladdin thanked Iago, he was ambushed by Abis Mal and Jafar, the latter disguised as a squad of flying horsemen. Hamed was kidnapped and Aladdin thrown into the raging river. However, Jafar spared his life in order to exact his revenge in the most painful way possible: by splitting him away from all his loved ones. To this purpose, he left false evidence and masked himself as Jasmine to implicate Aladdin with the alleged murder of Hamed and Aladdin was thrown into the dungeon to be executed by means of beheading come morning.
However, a remorseful Iago manages to free Genie so he could save Aladdin just in time and the Genie freed the others afterwards. Once free, Aladdin volunteered to attempt to stop Jafar, whom he decided was too dangerous to be left alive. Genie told Aladdin that in order to kill Jafar, his lamp must be destroyed before Abis Mal uses his third wish to set him free. During the final fight, all of the heroes were either knocked out or unavailable. It looked like Jafar was going to finally get rid of Aladdin and the others. However, Iago tried to attack Jafar in Aladdin's defense. The sorcerer managed to hit Iago and nearly killed him, but the bird managed to muster up enough strength to kick his former master's lamp into the lava, destroying the lamp and killing Jafar for good.
Aladdin: Nasira's Revenge
Jafar returned in the debated canon video game Nasira's Revenge as the overarching antagonist, where after the events of the Return of Jafar he is revealed to be the fraternal twin brother of the evil sorceress Nasira (the main antagonist of the game), who plans to collect all of the 4 magical artifacts and bring Jafar back to life. When Nasira first summoned Jafar's spirit and informs him of her plan, Jafar warns Nasira to be cautious of Aladdin as he underestimated his cleverness and paid the price for it. At the end of the game, Aladdin faced off against Jafar's ghost and Nasira at the heart of her lair. Jafar's giant head will cause boulders to come flying at Aladdin, and after Nasira is defeated, he attempted one final attack against Aladdin before being defeated, probably for good.
Aladdin: the Series
Jafar made no physical appearance in the television series, given his death in The Return of Jafar, but was often mentioned by the cast, mostly Iago. His secret lair in the palace remained intact even after his death, and the heroes occasionally explored it to find new, magical ways to defeat a powerful enemy. An antagonist in the series named Mozenrath is a powerful sorcerer who Iago often called "Jafar, Jr." because of the similarities in personality and appearance.
According to Iago, Destane was a real hard case and even Jafar steered well clear of him.
Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Jafar doesn't physically appear in the film as he was already dead, but he is mentioned once by Genie during the musical number There's a Party Here In Agrabah, where Genie is wearing a mask resembling Jafar's face as the palace guards are sleeping before the wedding. In Jafar's absence, Sa'Luk takes over as the main antagonist of the film.
Hercules and the Arabian Night
Jafar's spirit in Hercules and the Arabian Night.
In Hercules and the Arabian Night,, Jafar arrives in the Underworld as a ghost, no longer in his genie form due to his lamp having been destroyed, and meets Hades, Lord of the Dead and Hercules' arch-nemesis. Upon learning about each other's arch-enemies, claiming they could defeat the other's enemy given the chance, Hades gives Jafar new life by providing him with a staff that allows him to live as long as he is holding it and challenges him to destroy Hercules.
Jafar then returns to the world of the living and tries to destroy Hercules by summoning multiple giant creatures to attack him, but the hero's strength proves to be too much for him to handle. Returning to the Underworld, Jafar challenges Hades to try and beat Aladdin, although Hades claims that doing so would be a waste of his time and orders his minions Pain and Panic to do the job for him, although they are easily tricked by Aladdin and defeated by the Genie. Jafar and Hades then decide to trick their enemies into fighting each other instead, kidnapping Abu and Icarus and making Hercules and Aladdin think the other performed the crime. Once the two heroes realize what is going on (thanks to Hercules mentioning Jafar by name), they head to the Underworld to rescue their friends and confront Jafar yet again, who seemingly crushes Hercules to death and leaves Aladdin at his mercy. However, Aladdin and Hercules had actually switched identities, allowing Hercules to get close and crush Jafar's staff, turning Jafar back into a ghost and sealing him into the River of Styx forever.
In video-games
Aladdin: The Video Game
Jafar appeared as the main antagonist of the 1993 video game adaptations Disney's Aladdin for the Mega Drive developed by Virgin Interactive's studio of Virgin Games USA and published by Sega.
Jafar appears as both the main antagonist and the final boss of the 1995 video game Disney's Aladdin developed for the SNES and published by Capcom separately from Virgin's version since Capcom still held Disney licensing rights for Nintendo consoles at the time of the film's release.
Jafar made an appearance as both the final boss and the main antagonist of Disney's Aladdin developed by SIMS and published by Sega and released in 1994 for the Sega Game Gear worldwide and for the Sega Master System in Europe.
Kingdom Hearts franchise
Kingdom Hearts
Jafar as he appears in Kingdom Hearts.
| “ | Such is the power of the Keyblade. The child’s strength is not his own. | „ |
| ~ Jafar while in Maleficent's meeting. |
Jafar also appeared as a boss in Kingdom Hearts. He served as one of the main antagonists in Maleficent's team and is her second in command. Jafar takes over Agrabah and manages to kidnap one of the princesses. He is defeated by Sora and his allies. Jafar then transformed into a genie and fought again but was defeated.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Jafar was an antagonist in Chain of Memories and was fought in the memory Agrabah.
Kingdom Hearts II
| “ | Indeed I will, Princess. All of Agrabah will belong to me, while you...You, my queen, shall weep at my side for all eternity! | „ |
| ~ Jafar talking to Jasmine in the Palace Gates. |
Jafar was an antagonist in Kingdom Hearts II and the semifinal Disney boss. He was fought twice, once in mirage form and again in genie form. Jafar managed to take over Agrabah for a short time and planned to make Princess Jasmine his queen before being destroyed for good by Sora.
Kingdom Hearts: Coded
| “ | Galichiss"? Of what powerful sorcery do you speak? Give it to me at once! | „ |
| ~ Jafar after Pete explains the glitched lamp. |
Jafar invades the digital realms along with both Pete and Maleficent, he uses a Lamp to cast a time stop spell over Agrabah and takes it over. He later fights Sora twice and is defeated.
Manga
Jafar also appears in the manga series adapted by Shiro Amano along with other Disney villains like in the game. After Kingdom Hearts 2 Volume 2 discontinued and Jafar and the others did not show. The last appearance Jafar made was in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories Volume 1.
Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross]
Jafar appears in the Agrabah levels of Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross], first forcing the player character to get him the other half of the Golden Scarab and later trying to force them into the Cave of Wonders. He later seeks out the "Diamond in the Rough" Aladdin, and tricks Aladdin, Abu, and the player into going to the cave and fetching the lamp. He betrays them, however, and tries to kill them and steal the lamp. They escape into the Cave and awaken the Genie, who frees them. Aladdin uses his first wish to make himself a prince, whom Jafar tries to kill. This fails, however, and Aladdin and the player expose Jafar. Jafar escapes, but gets Iago to steal the lamp, allowing him to wish to become sultan and later a powerful sorcerer. Aladdin and the player confront him, and Jafar turns into a giant snake. After being defeated, Jafar uses his last wish to become a genie, that Aladdin promptly imprisons in a lamp and has the Genie trow into the Cave of Wonders.
Jafar also appears on a magical medal, with his Genie form appearing on a Strength medal.
Kingdom Keepers
The evil sorcerer was also in the Disney and Hyperion novel series, Kingdom Keepers. He was also an Overtaker, but he did not join Chernabog, Maleficent, Frollo, Evil Queen, Cruella and the others to take over the Disney parks at first. Like Shan Yu, he wanted the Kingdom Keepers' magic for himself. But after being tricked by one of the Kingdom Keepers, he later joins the other villains.
Kilala Princess Manga
In the Kilala Princess manga, Jafar is one of the Disney villains that were supporting the main manga villain Valdou - the others; Maleficent, Grimhilde, Ursula, Lady Tremaine, Gaston and their henchmen/henchwomen. Jafar was still a vizier like he was in the movie Aladdin. Not much changed with him and his scenes, except for when he saw the Sultan giving Kilala the diamond that he wanted, he was never too pleased, and when Iago and he talked about Kilala, Rei, and Sylphy intruding Agrabah and hanging out with Aladdin and Jasmine. Both Jafar and Iago were somewhat allying with the android Valdou.
In other media
House of Mouse
Like every other well known Disney villain, he returns as a recurring character the House of Mouse TV series. In this series, Jafar, despite still being menacing, is seen in a more comedic light than in previous appearances, with a frequent running joke in the series being that he will help Mickey and his friends solve their problems in exchange for things such as the lamp or control over Agrabah, although whatever he says will either refer to something not completely obvious or will be repaid in an alternate way (ex: Jafar desired Mickey's Lava Lamp and was given control over a Agrabah snow-globe). Jafar, much like the Club's other guests, also has a deeply rooted respect for Mickey and his friends and is appalled by any attempt to disgrace them (as shown when he and the rest of the club boo at Mortimer Mouse when he makes rude and unfunny jokes about Mickey). Despite this, Jafar is still malicious and mean-spirited, as shown in the episode Pete's House of Villains, in which Pete hires him to be the Club's secretary, and he takes delight in having the power to deny entry to the entire main cast of Aladdin, with the exception of Jasmine.
Jafar in Mickey's House of Villains.
In the special Mickey's House of Villains, Jafar takes over as the main villain, seeking to stop the Club's yearly Halloween night of boredom, teaming up with Captain Hook, Cruella De Vil, Ursula and later Hades in an attempt to take over the Club. At midnight, Jafar and his associates manage to overthrow Mickey and kick him, his friends and all the heroic characters out of the club, taking it over and renaming it the House of Villains. Jafar and his associates then thwarted every attempt made by Mickey to get his club back, however, after getting the Wizard's hat, Mickey duels Jafar in a short magic battle before, with help from Aladdin, imprisoning him in his lamp. As such, Jafar is the only villain who does not run out of the House.
Once Upon a Time
- Main article: Jafar (Once Upon a Time)
Descendants
- Main article: Jafar (Descendants)
2019 Film
- Main article: Jafar (2019)
A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale
- Main article: Jafar (A Whole New World)